A muffled voice fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Your Majesty, haven't you been planning to weaken the vassal states? Yizhou and Western Shu already have two great vassal kings. If we bring Xu Xiao into the fold as well, the three of them can join forces to encircle him. Wang Yue won't be able to leave Shuzhong, and once he dies, the forces under his command will collapse at once."
The emperor remained silent for a long time, still unable to make a decision. But he knew this was the safest course of action for now, so he let out a long sigh and said nothing more.
The muffled voice continued, grave and solemn. "Your Majesty, according to our intelligence, Wang Yue may be going to Northern Mang to contact the Western Shu royal family. The day he restores his kingdom is drawing near!"
The emperor replied with displeasure, "To strengthen Northern Liang's importance, Li Yishan arranged for Hong Jia to flee north, greatly increasing Northern Mang's power. He's a traitor to the realm!
"It's good that Wang Yue is going to Northern Mang. Those nobles from the fallen kingdoms have been lying low, and that's even more dangerous. Better to have them all come out at once so we can deal with them in one fell swoop."
The man with the muffled voice was Yuan Benxi, one of the emperor's most important advisers. Seeing that His Majesty had already made up his mind, he said no more.
Silence settled over the room. After a long while, Yuan Benxi finally rose to take his leave. He felt it was time to think about what would happen after his death.
Northern Mang, the imperial court
After hearing her subordinates' report, the Northern Mang Empress said in surprise, "Over